Home & Community Based Services (HCBS)
This program provides full Medicaid for long-term care. It is designed for people who are at risk of nursing home placement due to their health and desire to remain at home or in an assisted living facility.
It provides non-skilled services in addition to full Medicaid. Examples of non-skilled services are activities of daily living such as help with bathing, dressing, managing medications, meal preparation, light housekeeping, etc. The spouse’s income is not used when deciding if a person is eligible for this program.
Income Guidelines
Maximum income for the applicant is $2,022.00 per month. If the applicant’s monthly income is over $2022.00 per month, he/she may still qualify income-wise, if an income trust is established. Please contact your county department for more information about this.
Resource/Asset Limit
The asset limit for a single individual is $2,000.00, and for a married couple who are both on assistance, the asset limit is $3,000.00. There is spousal protection of resources (assets) for a married couple when one is applying for Long Term Care Medicaid such as Home Community Based Services, and the other spouse is not receiving any public assistance. We call the spouse not receiving public assistance a Community Spouse. In these situations, the resource limit increases to $109,560.00 for the Community Spouse and $2,000.00 for the spouse applying or receiving HCBS.
Assisted Living
To qualify for assisted living services, eligible clients must meet all of the eligibility criteria for the HCBS program. Eligible recipients must contribute a portion of their income toward the room and board portion of their care. For calendar year 2010, the minimum income contribution was $618.00 per month.
Income Trust
An income trust is a legal document that the county technician will provide to an applicant that has income over the allowable amount for Long Term Care Medicaid. Once completed, this form is sent to the State for approval. Contact your county technician to get more information about how this works.
